Development Staff

The staff of the Smeal College of Business Development Office.

Description

Portrait

Michelle Houser

Michelle began her role as the senior director of development for the Smeal College of Business in March 2015. She works with a team of development, alumni relations, and career services professionals to provide philanthropic and engagement opportunities for 74,000 alumni of the college.

Michelle previously held the appointment of director of development and alumni relations for the College of Education at Penn State. Prior to returning to Penn State, Michelle served as a major gifts officer for the Medical and Health Sciences Foundation at the University of Pittsburgh and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Michelle began her career in development and alumni relations at Allegheny College.

Betsy Beck is administrative support coordinator for the Smeal College of Business. In this role she supports the fundraising activities of the college, with a special focus on staff travel and support for the senior director of development.

Betsy joined the Smeal team in January 2009 following four years in Development with the College of Information Sciences and Technology. Betsy holds a degree in psychology from Penn State.

Steve joined the Smeal College of Business staff in January, 2015 as Director of Major Gifts. He works with alumni and friends throughout New York State, northern Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Georgia in helping them achieve their philanthropic goals.

Steve brings to Smeal more than thirty years of experience in fundraising, marketing, and media relations. He has played critical roles in bringing about more than $80 million in major, planned, and annual gifts and athletic ticket and marketing revenue, including four years as Director of Development for Research and the Graduate School at Penn State. Steve holds a bachelor of science degree in mass communication from Towson University and a master of education degree in sport administration from Xavier University.

Anne Louise is a writer for the Smeal College, focusing her efforts on fundraising support for the development team.

She joined the Smeal Development team in December 2014. Prior to that, she spent thirteen years in the investment industry, focusing primarily on client service and reporting. She also has experience as a customer relations representative for the University’s Athletics Department.

Anne Louise holds a B.S. in Nursing, and a M.H.A. and M.B.A., all from Penn State.

Nathan joined the Smeal College of Business in May 2015 as a director of major gifts. In his role, Nathan will be working with alumni and friends of Smeal College to raise philanthropic support in New York, Connecticut, Chicago and South Carolina.

Nathan previously worked in development roles at Affinity Connection, Inc., the American Cancer Society, and most recently with the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State. Nathan holds a B.S. in public relations from Northwest Missouri State University and a M.S. in college student personnel from Miami University.

Sues Lingle is college and alumni relations assistant for the Smeal College of Business. In this role she supports the fundraising activities of the college, with a special focus on staff travel, budget, and football.

Sues joined the Smeal Development team in March 2007, following seven years with Penn State's School of Nursing. She holds an associate degree in business administration.

As assistant director of development for the Smeal College of Business, David Minkoff works to identify alumni and friends with a strong affinity for the college and solicit their philanthropic support. His focus is on working with prospective donors in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and Arizona.

David joined the Smeal Development team in November 2014. Prior to this, he was a Realtor, owned various businesses and had a long career in media sales and sales management including five years of public television underwriting. David is a graduate of Smeal with a degree in Marketing and has a MBA from Temple University.

As director of major gifts for the Smeal College of Business, Jonathan Thurley works to help alumni and friends develop and achieve their philanthropic goals. His focus is on working with donors and prospective donors in the Philadelphia, Chicago and Texas regions.

Jonathan joined the Smeal Development team in April 2012. He comes to Smeal from the College of Communications, where he was the Associate Director of Development. Jonathan is a graduate of Western New England University, with a degree in Marketing Communications/Advertising.

As associate director of development for the Smeal College of Business, Aaron Tressler works to identify alumni and friends with strong affinity for the college and solicit their philanthropic support. His geographic focus is Metro Philadelphia and Metro New York City.

Aaron joined the Smeal Development team in January 2013. Previously, he was with The Tavern Restaurant of State College. A member of the varsity baseball team, Aaron graduated from Penn State with a degree in Turfgrass Science and spent 5 years as a professional baseball player with the Toronto Blue Jays Organization.